Just for Fun: The Right Way to Eat Vegemite

Vegemite's been making the rounds lately on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.  It all started last week when a couple of Aussie kids wrote a letter to Fallon explaining why they liked the show and that Higgins (Fallon's sidekick) should eat Vegemite because he doesn't really do anything.  So of course the two break out bread and Vegemite, slather it on like Nutella or Jif and the results are predictably hilarious.  For the rest of the week Vegemite became the butt of many jokes for the cast of The Tonight Show.

Then on Monday this week, Aussie guest and apparent Vegemite evangelist Hugh Jackman shows Fallon and company the right way to eat Vegemite.  Questlove's reaction is priceless.  Check it out:

In case you're wondering we enjoy Vegemite.  Our preferred way to eat it is on toast with avocado!

Vegemite and avocado on toast with Tasty Cheese and Dilmah Tea

ANZAC Day

 Perth ANZAC Memorial

"Anzac Day is one of Australia’s most important national commemorative occasions. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War."

I doubt I'll ever forget my first [and up to this point only] experience with ANZAC Day. I was working with YWAM in Brisbane, Australia in 2004. We'd been told we'd have the day off on April 25th for a national holiday. I asked one of the YWAM staff who was also from the states what type of holiday it was and they said, "It's similar to Memorial Day".

While I agree with the spirit of that statement, the reality couldn't be further from the truth. Both days were set aside as holiday's to commemorate war veterans. But the comparisons stop there. The ways the two countries choose to commemorate are far different and provide a deep insight into both country's culture at large or 'cultural DNA' as our MTW team leader, Stephen Rarig might say.

Similar to me at that time, you're probably wondering what does ANZAC stand for and what is it commemorating? It stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps. The holiday was originally set aside in 1916 as day to commemorate Australia's involvement and fallen soldiers of the World War I battle for the peninsula of Gallipoli. The objective was to knock Turkey (an ally of Germany) out of the war but the battle quickly became a stalemate and somewhere in the neighborhood of 11,000 Anzac's lost their lives. Ultimately the battle was lost and the campaign failed but as a recent BBC article states:

"Gallipoli holds a special place in Australian hearts. Many believe it was here Australians proved themselves the equal of any in the world, heralding the young nation's emergence onto the world stage. "

Shortly after waking up on April 25, 2004 my Australian mates Daniel, Tony, and Pat invited me to visit the ANZAC Memorial with them.  We went into the city of Brisbane and stood at the memorial in silence- it wasn't a long time but it was long enough to understand the weight and the importance of what the day meant to my three friends and the many Australians around me doing the same.  Soon images of my two Grandfathers, who had fought in WWII flooded into my mind and soon I was thinking about sacrifice as well.  The silence slowly gave way to quiet conversations about about life, war, death, freedom, and ultimately our shared faith in Jesus and how his ultimate sacrifice on the cross made us right with God.  We were brothers in faith and bonded by the blood of Jesus.  We were part of his church.

Brisbane ANZAC Memorial

I'm thankful my three friends invited me to experience ANZAC day with them.  We made our way back to the YWAM base and ate BBQ and played soccer with the others.  And ANZAC day showed those familiar and comforting similarities to how Memorial Day is celebrated in the States.  My love and appreciation for Australia deepened that day.  I believe God used this experience to strengthen and give depth to my sense of calling to share the Gospel in Australia that day.  It was the day I went from observing to participating in an important Australian cultural moment.

We look forward to participating in more cultural moments in Australia and pray those moments will give way to understanding Australia and further opportunities to share the gospel with those we meet in Australia.

ANZAC Day 2015 -Dawn Service in Perth | photo by Brett Ballington

Praise God!

Praise God!

We're excited to share that we are currently at 100% of our one-time gifts!  This allows us to focus on raising our last portion of monthly support.  We currently need:

33 Partners at $100/month.

It's our hope to get to Perth sometime later this summer or fall.  If you aren't currently a partner with us please pray and consider joining our team and the work God is doing in Perth. 

Maybe you're interested in making a monthly pledge to support us, if that's the case you can fill out this PLEDGE FORM and we can count you as one of our monthly partners! 

Thank you again for your prayers!

Sun's Coming Up | Perth: February 3rd-19th

In February, Lee and I traveled to Perth to meet with our team leader Stephen Rarig, other members of our the MTW team we'll be joining later this year, and the Presbytery that will be sponsoring our visas.  The purpose of this trip was to meet and secure visa sponsorship from the presbytery, meet with the core group of believers we'll be planting the church with in Fremantle, and do a lot of strategic planning.  It was great trip.  Below is a photo diary of our time down under.


We arrived in Perth, Australia on February 5th and had a day and half to get rested and adjusted.  That meant spending some time at the beach, eating fish and chips, and catching up with a few of the people who will be involved in planting the church- which we're calling the Village.



Throughout our trip we had a number of meetings with pastors from the Westminster Presbytery.  Lee had a transfer of ordination exam and we both shared and answered questions regarding our call and our vision for church planting in Perth, we attended a church planting committee meeting (pictured above) where we discussed the details of our work visas, and on our last evening there we attended the presbytery meeting where they voted to sponsor our work visas!



We got to spend time with a WPC church in Mandurah.  Lee preached and Stephen served communion.  Afterwards they fed us an amazing meal of Aussie meat pies and pavlova for dessert. It was so good.  And it really turned out to be an exciting service!

The Left Bank in East Fremantle.  We had a lunch meeting here and this was our view!  Fremantle is the area of the city where we'll be starting the Village.


A view of South Fremantle from the water.  We spent some time praying, discussing our roles and vision for the church plant out on the rocks in the Fremantle harbor.


This is a shot from Cottesloe beach looking south toward Fremantle.  I had never been to Cottesloe beach so Stephen stopped on our way to a lunch appointment so I could see it. 


We got to spend a lot time with various pastors involved with the WPC.  This is Roger Palmer.  He's a pastor from South Africa serving at Maida Vale Presbyterian Church.  He spent a number of years at Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church in St. Louis and a couple of our partners connected us back in 2013.  I'm thankful they did- and it was great to finally meet him in person and here about his ministry!





One of the most exciting moments of the trip was preparing and leading music for the first gathering of the Village!  Lee and I cooked a huge Mexican feast, then we sang some worship tunes, prayed, and Lee preached.  I cannot tell you how encouraging it was to be a part of this night and Missy and excited to be in community with these folks everyday!



Just north of the city in Jundaloop, there is a group of Australians and South Africans who are planting a church that our team leader Stephen is connected with- he consults with and preaches for them occasionally.  They had a huge BBQ feast and invited us.  I took this photo on the way to the BBQ. West Australian sunsets are hard to beat!


Lee and I spent Saturday, February 14th exploring all over Perth.  We walked up Mount Street and saw that one of the super Luxe condos on that street was having an open house. The view of the city from the balcony was spectacular.  Later that afternoon we met up with Stephen and Berenice at Langley Park to see the Giants (which are giant marionettes that were in town from France for the month long Perth Festival). They spent the weekend roaming city.  An estimated 1.5 million people came out to see them!



The following Sunday morning Lee preached at Canning Vale Presbyterian Church.  CVPC is pastored by MTW missionary Richard Bailey.  God is using Richard and his wife TC in big ways.  Richard holds a regular bible study at his house on Sunday evenings for university students and early career folks.  He invited me to join them that evening and asked me to sing some worship tunes and share my testimony and how God has worked in my life to bring me to Australia.  This was another one of those moments where everything hit home for me and provided another example of how our role on the team.  I can't wait to join with Richard in this bible study.  Over 30 people where in attendance that evening!



On our last day Lee, Richard, Stephen, and I had lunch.  We prayed for that evening's presbytery meeting, discussed how we can pray for each other in the coming months, and dreamed about the day we are all together in Perth

We're Here!

There is a coffee machine at the ZavCentre, which is a gift straight from heaven.

After a long day of travel, Andy and I connected in the Brussels airport for our month at CCMI (Cross Cultural Ministry Internship). CCMI is a month-long training session designed to prepare MTW missionaries for experiences they will encounter on the field. We’ll learn about church planting, team dynamics, language acquisition, contextualization, etc. 

So far we’ve spent the mornings in classes and the afternoons either doing ministry or getting to know other missionaries. For the duration of the month we will be working with two local ministries: an organization called Serve the City, which reaches out to urban communities in Brussels, and the Armenian Evangelical Church. We’ve done two outreaches with Serve the City so far, and will attend church with the Armenians tomorrow. We know God has great things to teach us through both of these ministries, despite the language barriers. 

The days have been long but lovely. Our daily schedule is packed with classes, ministry, job duties (Andy is working with worship, while I work with communication), small group reflection time, and homework (yes, homework). Andy and I have an additional element in the form of transportation; The ZavCentre (where CCMI is being held) is full, so we are staying at a hotel about 20 minutes away by bus. The transportation time is an element we did not anticipate, but we definitely enjoy having our own bathroom! 

We're Thankful... 

That our church ministry team includes Lee and Shannon Hinkle, who will be on our team in Perth. We are incredibly thankful to be spending CCMI with them, since this helps us get to know one another before we hit the field. 

For Missy's fruitful visit to Lebanon, where she was working to set the stage for a gifted program at Beirut Baptist School. More detailed information is coming in a future post! 

That both Missy and Andy recovered quickly from jet lag/traveling fatigue.

Please Pray...

For stamina - our days are jam packed, and we had already been traveling (one of us internationally) for over two weeks when CCMI began. We have three weeks of CCMI left to go, so pray for our energy level!

For ministry opportunities here - we want to be a positive force for our short time with Serve the City and the Armenian church.

For encouragement - full disclosure: we’ve been support raising for a LONG time, and we’re weary. Many days are filled with discouragement and doubt.

For support - please ask the Lord to bring forth financial partners. Our hearts are in Perth, and we long for the day when our bodies can be there, too! 

Andy securing our bus passes, enabling us to enjoy unlimited rides for the month of July. 

It's hard to explain how relieved we were to accomplish this simple feat.

 I now have a new appreciation for my colleagues serving in countries where a language barrier exists. 

Andy and I waiting at the bus stop - something we're doing less and less as we commit the schedule to memory. 

Note: it is 9:30pm in this picture and is still sunny. We love this part of Europe! 

Andy playing soccer in an immigrant community at a Serve the City event on Thursday.

Braden Hinkle, Andy, and Lee Hinkle working together to stake a tent at a Serve the City street fair today. 

Ever tried to stake down a tent on cobblestone? 

Hinkles! Aren't they the cutest? 

Help Us Get to CCMI!

First we want to say how thankful we are for each of you and your prayers.  We've had a busy winter & spring.  We've travelled to a number of places (FL, TN, & MS) and have spoken to a number of churches and fellow believers about the work we're joining in Perth.  It's been amazing to worship with some many different people and share about our work and ask them to partner with us.  We've been extremely encouraged with each appointment!

Second we're excited to announce that we are hoping to do our Cross Cultural Ministry Internship (CCMI) in Belgium this summer!  We're excited because reaching this benchmark means we're getting closer and closer to joining our team.  CCMI will be a time of classroom training and hands on ministry experience that will continue to equip us for our work in Australia.  In order to go to CCMI we need to have $428.00 in monthly pledges committed by April 15th.  

Many of you who receive our updates are already financial partners with us.  We would like to ask you to pray with us asking God to provide these funds as well as think of others who might be interested in partnering with us and ask if you can connect us with them.  If you haven't pledged to partner with us but have been thinking about it please pray and consider it!  Below are instructions on how to partner. 

For more on CCMI, click HERE.

Pledge to Partner with Us:
By pledging you are making a commitment to give once we leave for the field. You can pledge two ways: HERE by filling out the email and sending it to us and we'll forward it onto MTW.  Or email our coach, Julie Brand at  julie.brand@mtw.org directly and pledge that way.

Praise God for each of you and all of your prayers and support! 

Perth Music Community

I love music.  If you've ever spent more than a few minutes around me this is not news.  Also a big part of why Missy and I are heading to Perth is because of music and it's role in my life (and by proxy, Missy's life)!  For the last year and a half, in anticipation of our work in Perth, I've made it a point to seek out and listen to more and more music by Australians-particularly those within the Perth music community.  Doing this allows me to get acquainted with what is happening, what to expect, and an idea of how to anticipate where things might go.  Second it's a great insight into where many Australians are philosophically and ultimately how they approach life.  Many years ago I heard a guy say that Pink Floyd were a prophetic band- it wasn't until years later when I had a similar thought in regards to Radiohead that I realized the importance of what he said.  We can often learn what culture is thinking and anticipate where it's heading by listening to our artists.  As someone going to plant churches in Perth- I believe this is of utmost importance.  Below are a few bands from Fremantle that I believe are worth listening to and sharing with you.

Tame Impala:

These guys are the breakout band from Fremantle.  And have become one of my favorite bands in the last year.  Their records are wonderful but they shine in the live setting.  One of the few bands I'll travel to see--they're that good.

Live at Glastonbury 2013




POND

POND and Tame Impala share band members.  It's also safe to say that POND are they care-free younger sibling of Tame Impala.  I haven't had the opportunity to see them live but have met a couple of members in person--I can't wait for the opportunity see them play!  They're a touch more experimental and rambunctious than Tame Impala.  A lot of fun!






San Cisco

These guys are a more recent discovery.  I heard about them in a Tame Impala interview that I read.  They're a lot of fun.  They recently did a fantastic cover of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky".  You can listen below.  I've also included one of their original compositions.